Director of drug ring paid in illegal cigarettes

It came months after he pleaded guilty in March to supplying 1.4kg of meth and dealing with proceeds of crime.

El Zebdeh attempted to argue he hadn't held a senior position in the drug syndicate and he was largely involved in the scheme to supplement his drug habit.

But Judge Sarah Hopkins disagreed, finding his ability to organise drug deliveries while overseas showed he held a high position. 

"El Zebdeh was the organiser, that is, he played a managerial role and provided instruction to his co-offenders," she said.

"I accept the level of organisation is not particularly sophisticated, but there was a level of planning ... in the use of the encrypted application."

El Zebdeh was paid $95,000 for the drugs, roughly half in cash and half in illegal cigarettes, according to the agreed facts.

Some of the cigarettes may have been fake, the court was told.

Prosecutor Melanie O'Connell argued during sentence hearing his direction of others through encrypted apps to participate in drug supply worth thousands could not be seen as trivial.

"He's not asking someone to go down and buy a litre of milk," she said.

El Zebdeh was caught after he arranged the drug deliveries and payment on encrypted messenger Threema with a man who turned out to be working with police.

On separate occasions in July and November 2023, the informant, known as "Max", paid for drugs arranged by El Zebdeh at a home in Bass Hill in Sydney's southwest, Judge Hopkins said.

The drugs were handed over in a brown paper Woolworths bag in one instance and in a red jerry can inside an Aldi shopping bag in another.

While El Zebdeh was in Australia during the November handover, two drug deals set up in July were done on his instruction while he was overseas, the judge said.

The 46-year-old's barrister argued El Zebdeh's criminality was diminished because he had been prompted to offend by someone who was working for police, but the judge did not agree.

"There is no reference to Max providing encouragement to conduct unlawful activities, the offender was in fact organising much of the supply while he was overseas," Judge Hopkins said.

El Zebdeh will be eligible for parole in January 2029.